Israel, Iran and Fear
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) April 19, 2009 - 12:00am

When I lived in Germany in the 1990s, the return of the capital from Bonn to the scene of the crime, Berlin, prompted agonizing over how to memorialize the Holocaust. Germans thirsted for a “Schlussstrich” — closure with Hitler — even as they acknowledged its impossibility. A large Holocaust memorial was built in Berlin, but not before a leading writer, Martin Walser, had prompted outrage by railing against “the permanent presentation of our shame” and use of Auschwitz as “a moral stick.”

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US envoy meets Israeli officials
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The US special envoy to the Middle East is meeting senior Israeli officials in an attempt to kickstart the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. George Mitchell met Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, on Thursday and will meet Benyamin Netanyahu, the country's prime minister, later in the day. Mitchell is also expected to discuss progress on peace negotiations with Tzipi Livni, leader of the opposition Kadima party. Shortly after arriving in the country on Wednesday evening, Mitchell met Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister. Commitment urged

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Trembling earth under economic peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Alon Cohen-Lifshitz - April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The West Bank is returning to center stage amid expectations that the new U.S. administration will do more to push the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians forward. The United States faces the old vision of two states living side by side and enjoying independence, security and prosperity. Unfortunately, this vision relies on false assumptions about the West Bank's development potential.

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Egypt terror cell planned to strike in Tel Aviv
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roee Nahmias - April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Members of the Hizbullah cell uncovered in Egypt planned to carry out terror attacks inside Israel, Egyptian daily Almasry Alyoum reported on Thursday. According to the report, two of the cell's members are Fatah operatives, who confessed to having planned to enter Israel and carry out massive suicide attacks, "maybe even in Tel Aviv". Sources close to the investigation told the newspaper that two Fatah members, Muhammad Ramadan Barakeh and Nidal Fathi Hassan were arrested under suspicion of ties with the Hizbullah cell.

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Egypt’s Escalating War on Hezbollah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - (Analysis) April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

After months of relative passivity, Egypt effectively declared war in mid-April on Iranian-backed terrorist groups operating in its backyard, executing an unprecedented wave of arrests of alleged terrorists, smugglers and arms-makers linked to Hezbollah and Hamas.

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Bibi’s ‘Economic Peace’ Faces Key Test at Quarries
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - April 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Complaints over Israel’s conduct on Palestinian land are well-known. Less commonly heard, however, is the accusation that Israel is actually removing the land. “How is it that they are taking our land to Israel?” asked Ibrahim Abder, a Palestinian man standing at a stone quarry near his home a few miles south of Bethlehem during an interview with the Forward.

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Egypt detains Palestinians, finds TNT near Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
April 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Egyptian police detained three teenage Palestinian men Wednesday on suspicion of crossing illegally into Egypt and also found explosives near the border with Gaza, security sources said. Tuesday, Egypt tightened security on its border with Israel to prevent illegal crossings after authorities detained 25 men Egypt said were linked to the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah and who were plotting attacks in Egypt. Police detained the three men, aged 16 to 18, in a dawn raid in the town of Sheikh Zweid, near the border with Gaza, the sources said.

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Gaza boat explodes in apparent attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 13, 2009 - 12:00am

An unmanned Palestinian fishing boat exploded off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Monday in an apparent attempt to hit naval patrols in the area, the Israeli military said, reporting no casualties. An army spokesman said the nearest Israeli vessel was "a safe distance" from the Palestinian boat when it blew up about 300 metres off the northern Gaza shore near the border with Israel.

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Palestinian lightly wounded after trying to snatch IDF soldier's gun
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - April 8, 2009 - 12:00am

An Israel Defense Forces soldier shot and lightly wounded a Palestinian in the West Bank Wednesday after he tried to snatch a soldier's weapon at a checkpoint near Ramallah. Ambulances arrived on the scene and evacuated the Palestinian to a hospital in Ramallah. No soldiers were wounded in the incident. Earlier on Wednesday, at least 17 people were wounded during clashes between dozens of settlers from a settlement where a terrorist killed an Israeli teenager last week and Palestinians in a nearby West Bank village.

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Hamas Calls on PA to Cut Security Ties with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - April 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Hamas urged the Palestinian Authority to halt all security coordination with Israel following Wednesday's clash between settlers and residents of the West Bank village of Khirbat Safa, near the Bat Ayin settlement. The violent riot saw 16 Palestinian suffer various injuries with one of the wounded said to be in critical condition.

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